Rough Diamond
by mintchocochipcookie
Summary: Sakura Amori is Henri Sensei's newest recruit.She is NOT a Mary Sue. She's a rough tough tomboy with a troubled past. Can Hanbusa help Sakura find her true self? She may seem a bit mean at first but please don't hate her! KashinoxIchigo, OCxHanbusa. R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Sakura Amori stomped through the corridor of Saint Marie's Academy. Despite her flowery name, Sakura was a tough looking girl. She had short, spiky black hair and dark brown eyes. She wore ragged jeans, a checked shirt and scuffed Doc Martens that were at least two sizes too big for her. Curious eyes followed her and people began to whisper.

'That must be Sakura Amori, Henri sensei's newest recruit! I bet she'll be put in group A!' whispered an admiring student.

Ichigo looked up from her French notes (she was cramming XD).

'So that's Sakura Amori! Everybody's been talking about her. I hope she does get put in group A with us! You'll be nice to her won't you, Kashino?' said Ichigo.

The blonde boy next to her replied 'Er, yeah, sure.' Ichigo beamed at him. The green haired boy standing next to Kashino looked up from his compact mirror long enough to say: 'I'll make her some sugar roses to welcome her.' The purple haired boy standing on the other side of Ichigo volunteered to offer Sakura some of his traditional sweets.

Ding!

The bell rang, signaling the start of class. The teacher started taking the register. However, she was interrupted as a girl with short, spiky hair rushed in. The teacher sighed.

'Not impressive, late on your first day!' she scolded. Then the teacher spoke to the rest of the class. 'Class, this is Sakura Amori. She will be in group A. Please make her feel welcome.' Sensei resumed taking the register and Sakura stomped her way to Ichigo's table.

'So, this is group A?' she asked. Everybody nodded. Hanabusa eagerly presented her his bunch of sugar roses. 'Sakura, a beautiful name for a beautiful girl.' Sakura smacked Hanabusa hard across his face. 'Go back to staring into your mirror, you good for nothing narcissist!' she snarled.

Hanabusa howled in pain and the rest of the class stared at Sakura.

'What on earth was that for?' exclaimed Ichigo. Sakura sniffed defiantly. 'I worked hard to get here. I want to work with people who are diligent and serious about their work. Not bimbos who flatter and are more interested in their own reflections than becoming a top patissiere!'

'Sakura, that's enough! Go and see Henri Sensei!' screeched Sensei. Sakura moodily strode out of the cooking room. On her way out she kicked Hanabusa. The members of group A were silent for a while. Then Kashino spoke out. 'What's her problem?' he said. Andoh nodded in agreement. Ichigo looked thoughtful. 'Don't judge Sakura so quickly! I think Sakura is hurt deep inside. We should help her.' she said. She turned to face Hanabusa. To her surprise, he was smiling.

'She's feisty!' he muttered to himself.


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry that the last chapter was so short! This chapter will be longer as compensation. Please REVIEW!

'Sakura, look at me. Now!'

Sakura reluctantly looked up at the angry face of Henri Lucas.

'What did you think you were doing? Sensei told me that you were late for class to start with and then you made matters worse by smacking Hanabusa! Do you know how serious that is, young lady? Hanabusa may be rather obsessed with his looks but he is the best at sugar art. I'm seriously regretting taking you on at Saint Marie's. If you continue to misbehave I'll withdraw your scholarship.' thundered Henri Lucas.

At this point, Sakura interrupted his rant. 'Please, Henri Sensei. Please don't withdraw my scholarship. I'll do anything! I'll even apologize to Hanabusa!'

'You'd better.' He muttered darkly. 'Dismissed.'

Sakura stomped through the corridor again. Like the last time there were whispers and stares but this time they were negative ones. Everybody seemed to be glaring at Sakura. Pointing at her, accusing her.

'She's the one who hit Hanabusa senpai!'

'How dare she hit him?'

'What's her problem?'

Sakura felt the tears come but she held them in. Instead, she glared at the gossiping students and tightly clenched her fists.

Sakura marched into the classroom head held high, daring anybody to heckle her. She walked over to Hanabusa and held out her hand. 'I'm sorry for smacking you. Will you accept my apology?' she said stiffly. Hanabusa shook her hand and said 'Apology accepted.'. Class rolled on. The lesson was fruitcakes. Ichigo made her fruitcake with strawberries as a main, Kashino topped his with chocolate. Andoh sprinkled his fruitcake with green tea powder while Hanabusa arranged sugar roses on top of his. Sakura's was a simple classic fruitcake. When senpai sampled Sakura's fruitcake, her brow creased slightly. She announced that Sakura had great technique but she should try to add her own unique twist. At senpai's comment Sakura's face crumpled but she quickly regained her smooth, calm expressionless face.

After class was over Ichigo tried to talk to Sakura. It was a pretty one sided conversation. Sakura merely nodded or grunted in reply to Ichigo's numerous questions. In the end, Ichigo gave up and left Sakura to do whatever she liked. After Ichigo was gone Sakura just plopped down on a bench in the school's garden and studied her recipe book once more. Sakura had almost memorized every single recipe in the book. Night after night she had stayed up repeating the recipes over and over to herself and mimed cooking the recipes without the actual ingredients.

Sakura became absorbed in her recipe book and only looked up when she realized a group of students had gathered around her. They were all incredibly pretty and also incredibly mean looking. One of them, the prettiest one, spoke to Sakura. 'You there, yes, you! Do you know how totally fail you are? I mean seriously, your clothes are so tatty! And what's with your attitude? On your first day of school you hit Hanabusa! Do you know how popular Hanabusa is? Thing is, get a grip! You'd better start fitting in. Thing is, we don't like freaks. Especially charity case freaks.' Sakura had been calm and composed until the last part. She looked shocked and tears began to well up in her eyes.

The pretty, mean girl carried on. 'Yes, I know that you're a charity case. I know that you're just a good for nothing orphan who managed to get a place in group A that you didn't deserve. A place that should have been mine. Now don't tell anybody about this or I'll spill the beans about how you're just a loser with no parents!'


	3. Chapter 3

_**Thank you very much StrawberryDream15 and MusicalAnimeFreak for reviewing! Everyone else, please REVIEW! ^o^**_

'Alicia! What on earth are you doing?' Sakura lifted her head and saw Hanabusa glaring at the mean girl. Alicia looked flustered.

'Nothing, just telling the newbie how things work at Saint Marie's.' she said. With that she left with her group of Barbie doll clones. Hanabusa sat down next to Sakura.

'Sakura, what's wrong?' he asked, his face full of concern as he noticed the tears in her eyes. Sakura sniffed and quickly wiped away her tears.

'Nothing.' she said and got up to leave. However, Hanabusa grabbed her arm and refused to let her go.

'I know you're lying. Come on, I'll take you somewhere we can talk in private.' he said and dragged her to the rose garden.

'Sakura, you've got to tell me! If you don't tell me it'll just stay bottled up inside you and it'll hurt even more.' urged Hanabusa for what seemed to be the ten millionth time. Sakura finally gave in.

'Fine, but you can't tell anybody. Is that clear?' she said. Hanabusa nodded and swore himself to secrecy.

Sakura started her tale.

'I'm an orphan. A charity case. The school funds my school fees. My father was a drunkard. He was completely addicted to alcohol. No matter how much my mother and I begged him to stop, he never could. He was never able to hold down a steady job. Whatever money he earned, he wasted it all on the drink. When I was seven years old, he died leaving us no money but many debts. My mother tried her best to clear the debts. She worked day and night. She never took a day off no matter how ill she was. In the end she died of cancer. She refused to go to the hospital because of the expensive fees. When I finally dragged her to the hospital, she was already past treatment. After my mother died, I was sent to an orphanage. The conditions were horrible but it was something. I always hoped that someday some rich couple might take a fancy to me and adopt me. It was a foolish dream. Nobody wanted me, an unattractive surly child when they could adopt pretty, docile children. I lived in the orphanage for five years until last year. That was when Henri sensei came to the orphanage. Henri sensei brought a cake to the orphanage as a gift. While all the other orphans just ate it, he saw me eating the cake layer by layer and trying to guess what was in it. He asked me if I'd like to learn how to bake. Of course I said yes. So he taught me how to bake chocolate chip cookies. He saw I was pretty good at it and asked me if I'd like to attend Saint Marie's on a scholarship. I trained hard with him for six months, learning basic techniques. Then he decided I was ready to come here so here I am. I'm working really hard to become a top patissiere. That's why I snapped at you yesterday. I'd worked so hard to make it here and you treated everything so lightly. It didn't seem fair. Alicia somehow knows about my scholarship and she was bullying me about it. I can't tell the teachers that she's bullying me either or else she'll tell everybody that I'm a charity case!' by the time Sakura had finished telling Hanabusa everything she was drowning in her tears. All the tears Sakura had been holding back flooded out. Hanabusa offered her his shoulder and gently stroked her spiky hair. He reached into his pocket and got out a rose scented handkerchief and dabbed at Sakura's eyes. When Sakura finished crying Hanabusa explained to her that Alicia was Henri sensei's niece and that she was always jealous of members of group A. Sakura got up to leave. On her way out of the rose garden she said to Hanabusa: 'I got you wrong, Hanabusa. You might be a little obsessed with your looks but you're actually a good person. Thanks for letting me cry on your shoulder. '.

Hanabusa watched her go and smiled.


	4. Chapter 4

Ok. Another thank you to StrawberryDream15 and MusicalAnimeFreak for reviewing. My chief advisor kanakokiriha says I shouldn't upload chapters so fast but as a new year present to all readers of 'Rough Diamond', I have. Have a happy new year!

The day after Sakura had revealed her unhappy past to Hanabusa she seemed to soften a little. She didn't glare so much at other students and actually said 'Hi' to the members of group A. She made polite conversation with Ichigo and occasionally smiled. Telling her secret also seemed to have had a positive impact on her baking. During class Sakura made a delicious almond cake that was light and fluffy and had a unique taste. Sensei was delighted at her progress and praised her highly.

After class, Hanabusa invited Sakura to picnic with him in the rose garden. Sakura accepted and together they packed the remains of Sakura's cake and a few apples. Sakura and Hanabusa sat cross legged opposite each other.

'We're kind of the same, you know.' said Hanabusa suddenly.

Sakura raised her eyebrows questioningly. 'How so?' she asked.

'My father died as well.' replied Hanabusa and proceeded to tell her about his father and the precious bottle of rosewater. (For those who didn't watch the episode about the rosewater, Hanabusa's dad died delivering Hanabusa rose water. There was a car accident.)

Hanabusa started getting teary eyed. On impulse, Sakura leant forward and kissed Hanabusa's cheek and whispered 'Don't cry.' softly into his ear. Hanabusa immediately stopped crying and started blushing instead. Sakura started blushing too. She had no idea why she'd kissed Hanabusa's cheek. Hanabusa quickly regained his composure.

'I didn't mind that.' he said with a cheeky smile. Sakura slapped him playfully and told him to be quiet.

She steered the topic back to school in an attempt to hide her awkward feelings. They talked for a while about cakes and the rest. Then Hanabusa randomly commented that Sakura was like a porcupine. Sakura was puzzled and rather miffed.

'Why on earth am I like a porcupine?' she asked him angrily.

'You've grown spikes to protect yourself.' he answered. Sakura pondered for a while then said 'Yeah. In the orphanage I had to be tough. There was never enough food and some of the older kids would try to get my food. I guess after five years in that hellhole those spikes kinda became part of me.'. Then Hanabusa announced that it was getting late and that they should be going. Sakura brushed the dirt off her knees and stood up. Hanabusa slid his hand into hers. Sakura told him to let go but he wouldn't. In the end, Sakura gave up and let him hold her hand. They had almost arrived at the main building when a group of girls barred their way. It was Alicia and her minions.

'Oh, my, my, my. It's the loser and Hanabusa. Aw, isn't that cute! Hanabusa's holding hands with the loser!' she said nastily as she noticed Hanabusa and Sakura were hand-in-hand. 'Hanabusa, you can do so much better than a loser like her! Don't you know she's a talentless charity case?' she said addressing Hanabusa. Hanabusa glared at her. 'You're wrong. Sakura's at least a million times better than you are. She's way nicer too!' Alicia sniffed. 'If you continue to behave that way, I'll have my uncle revoke your scholarship.' she snarled and flounced off, followed by her little army.

Sakura stood shaking. 'What a b****! 'muttered Hanabusa to himself. Then he noticed Sakura was shaking. 'Do you think Alicia could really get Henri sensei to revoke my scholarship?' asked Sakura in a small voice.

'I honestly don't know.' answered Hanabusa despairingly.

Together they walked to the main building still hand-in-hand.


	5. Chapter 5

So sorry for not updating in ages. My mum doesn't allow me to write during the school term. Well, hope you enjoy! And please **REVIEW!**

Sakura stomped her way into class the next morning. Her expression was darker than usual and her hair looked like she hadn't even bothered to comb it. Her fists were clenched tightly by her side and her eyes were red and puffy. Everybody stared at her. Sakura glared in response, daring them to comment. Class began. The theme for the lesson just happened to be a cake that represented an emotion. Sakura baked her depression into her cake, using only dark chocolate and not even bothering to add sugar to it. Her teammates all watched her worriedly, especially Hanabusa. He reached out and squeezed her hand but Sakura just stared at him blankly.

Sensei sampled Sakura's cake. She winced as the bitterness of it hit her.

'Sakura is there something wrong?' she asked concernedly. Sakura shook her head even though sensei had been spot on. Sensei went on.

'Sakura, this cake does portray emotion accurately. I can taste the despair and the depression perfectly. However, I am worried. I feel that these emotions are coming from you. If you have any problems come and speak to me, okay?'

In response to sensei's comment, Sakura just stared silently down at the floor.

As soon as class finished, Sakura ran out of the classroom. To her dismay, she came face to face with a sneering Alicia.

'Oh, my. It looks like loser girl has been crying her eyes out. Yes, go crying back to mummy. Right, you don't have a mummy, do you?' said Alicia nastily.

Sakura dug her nails into her palm. Alicia carried on, determined to hurt Sakura as much as she could.

'Loser girl, admit it you don't belong here. Go back to your miserable little orphanage. Go become a drunkard like your daddy. That's all you will ever be. You are a disgusting untalented maggot who managed to worm your way into group A. That was my place, you loser!'

Sakura couldn't stand it anymore.

'I got into group A because I tried! That's way better than you. You don't even deserve to be in group B. You only managed to get that place because your uncle is Henri Sensei. You're just a bully who can't do anything else except for bullying people like me.' She blurted out angrily.

Alicia's eyes glittered murderously.

'You really did it. You'll pay for this, yes, you will. No one gets away with insulting me. No one. Especially loser girls like you. Oh, so you think you've won? Well, guess what? This game is far from over. I'll be the one having the last laugh, you'll see.'

Alicia flipped her perfect blonde hair over her shoulder and stalked off.

Sakura swore softly under her breath. She was sure Alicia would do her best to make Sakura's life even more miserable now. Darn it! She had been way too impulsive. All her hard work could be blown away by those insults. She would probably get kicked out of school and sent back to the orphanage. Alicia was Henri sensei's niece after all. She probably could get Sakura expelled. Tears of despair rolled down Sakura's cheeks. Saint Marie's had been her big chance for a better life and she had probably blown it.


	6. Chapter 6

Thank you again MusicalAnimeFreak and StrawberryDream15 for reviewing. The rest of you, why oh why, don't you review? Well, enjoy and don't forget to REVIEW!

Hanabusa found Sakura huddled up in the garden.

'What has Alicia done this time?' he asked.

Sakura looked up and wiped her tears away with the cuff of her sleeve. Her nose was red and blotchy and her chocolate brown eyes looked anguished.

' It's war.' She finally managed to croak out.

Hanabusa looked at her questioningly.

'I insulted Alicia; she is REALLY out to get me now. She will probably get me sent back to the orphanage.' She continued.

'How badly did you insult her?' said Hanabusa worriedly.

'I wasn't thinking. I was so mad at her. I told Alicia that she didn't even deserved to be in the B group. She never liked me but now she completely hates my guts. She'll have me sent back to the orphanage, no matter what.' Sakura's shoulders shook with emotion as she said the last part. Hanabusa cautiously wrapped his arms around her. He didn't say anything; he just held her close until she recovered.

The next few days Sakura was tense and anxious, waiting to be called to Henri sensei's office. To her surprise, that call didn't come. She waited for a week before finally allowing herself to relax. In her happiness, Sakura pushed her ordeal with Alicia to the back of her mind. She started to loosen up and enjoy herself. She made friends with all the other members of team A and stopped glaring at people. She baked her happiness into her cakes and improved day by day. By the end of the month, Sakura was a respected member of group A.

While Sakura was settling into Saint Marie's, Alicia was plotting. Alicia definitely hadn't forgotten Sakura's insult. She was biding her time, figuring out the best time to strike. She was like a lion, crouching low in the grass then pouncing on her unsuspecting prey.

One day, Sakura walked into the classroom to find the whole classroom in turmoil. A very upset Alicia was standing at the front of the classroom with Sensei.

'Class. Alicia has lost something very valuable to her. She'd be very grateful if you could consent to having your bags checked.' announced Sensei

'Please. It's not like I suspect any of you of stealing but I realize that my Gucci wallet might be very tempting to some of us who are well, less fortunate.' pleaded Alicia wiping tears from her eye. '

'Crocodile tears.' thought Sakura to herself. Grumbling, the class allowed their bags to be checked. Alicia and Sensei routinely checked everybody's bags. Soon it was Sakura's turn. Alicia unzipped Sakura's tattered denim bag, pulling out her treasured cookbook, her pencil case, a notebook and a packet of gummy bears. Sakura was just about to go when Alicia delved further and produced a wallet. It wasn't an ordinary wallet, it was a shiny leather Gucci wallet with ' Alicia' engraved on the zipper. The classroom became silent. Everybody turned to stare at Alicia. Sakura's eyes widened in horror and she looked up into Alicia's face. Sakura could have sworn she saw a smirk dance across Alicia's perfect features.


	7. Chapter 7

This is the last chapter for Rough Diamond. I would like to thank MusicalAnimeFreak and StrawberryDream15 for reviewing so consistently. Thank you, all readers. Since this is the last chapter could you all please review? Pretty please with a cherry on top! Enjoy!

Sakura could feel the stares of her classmates. She was sure they wouldn't believe her, no matter what she said. In anger and frustration, Sakura dropped her open rucksack to the floor and ran out of the classroom. One of the seniors found Sakura in the rose garden. However, she was far from sympathetic.

'Henri Sensei wants to see you. You should better hurry up, you thief!'. She said coldly.

Sakura got up and went to see Henri Sensei. Gulping her fear down, she knocked on his door.

As she had expected he was not happy. He kept his cool composure but his eyes were cold and his voice steely.

'Honestly, I am disappointed in you. I gave you the chance a lifetime and you completely sabotaged it. You slapped one of my best students on your first day! I also have complaints from various teachers about your attitude. And now you've gone and stolen my niece's wallet! I should never have let you come to Saint Marie's. You will be sent back to the orphanage tomorrow. Start packing. You don't deserve to be here, you should be grateful to me for have given you such a wonderful chance but you've behaved badly and committed theft. Get out of my sight. Dismissed!'

Sakura walked out of the office ashen faced. Her worst nightmare had come true. She was actually getting kicked out of Saint Marie's. On her way back to her room she met Hanabusa.

'Sakura, what has that b$%ch done? She's framed you hasn't she?' he asked concernedly.

Sakura threw herself into his arms.

'Henri Sensei's kicking me out! I'm getting sent back to the orphanage, tomorrow! He won't believe me, Alicia's his niece.' She sobbed.

Hanabusa's expression was one of disbelief.

'What? You can't be serious! That biased $%#^!' he cried out and wrapped his arms tightly around Sakura. She tilted her head up.

'There's something I want to tell you.' She whispered.

'I like you.' she murmured just as inaudibly.

She carefully watched his expression. When his lips curved upwards into a smile, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. After a while she pulled back.

'You wear rose scented lip gloss?' she asked incredulously.

Despite the unfortunate situation they were in they couldn't help but laugh.

The next morning Sakura strapped her rucksack onto her back and tried to march bravely. She was wearing the same clothes she had worn on her first day and her jet black hair was spikier than it ever had been. Her chocolate brown eyes were rimmed with red from crying. Hanabusa walked with her up to the front gate. She hugged him and said 'Good bye, Rose Boy. I will miss you.' In return Hanabusa said 'I will never forget you, my thorny rose, my rough diamond.' When they broke their embrace their eyes were bright with tears. Then Sakura reached for the door handle of the taxi that would take her back to her old life.

Just then a figure came running up to Sakura. It was one of Alicia's minions.

'Henri Sensei says you can stay at Saint Marie's. We told him how Alicia bullied you and how she framed you. We were there when she did it. Now Alicia's being sent to the French Branch of Saint Marie's.' After delivering her message, the girl ran out of steam and stood silently panting for a while. Sakura's eyes widened in delight and she hugged Hanabusa then attempted to hug the girl. The girl looked mortified and said 'Eww, no. We didn't like do it for you or anything. We were just fed up with Alicia bossing us around.' Sakura and Hanabusa looked at each other and simultaneously rolled their eyes.


End file.
